Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students eBook

There is not a more fertile disease distributor, particularly
in a new country, than water. The uninitiated
generally take it for granted that so long as water
looks clear it is necessarily pure and wholesome; as
a matter of fact the contrary is more usually the case,
except in very well watered countries, and such, as
a rule, are not those in which gold is most plentifully
got by the average prospector. I have seen foolish
fellows, who were parched with a long tramp, drink
water in quantity in which living organisms could
be seen with the naked eye, without taking even the
ordinary precaution of straining it through a piece
of linen. If they contracted hydatids, typhoid
fever, or other ailments, which thin our mining camps
of the strong, lusty, careless youths, who could wonder?

The best of all means of purifying water from organic
substances is to boil it. If it be very bad,
add carbon in the form of the charcoal from your camp
fire. If it be thick, you may, with advantage,
add a little of the ash also.

I once rode forty-five miles with nearly beaten horses
to a native well, or rock hole, to find water, the
next stage being over fifty miles further. The
well was found, but the water in it was very bad; for
in it was the body of a dead kangaroo which had apparently
been there for weeks. The wretched horses, half
frantic with thirst, did manage to drink a few mouthfuls,
but we could not. I filled our largest billycan,
holding about a gallon, slung it over the fire and
added, as the wood burnt down, charcoal, till the
top was covered to a depth of two inches. With
the charcoal there was, of course, a little ash containing
bi-carbonate of potassium. The effect was marvellous.
So soon as the horrible soup came to the boil, the
impurities coagulated, and after keeping it at boiling
temperature for about half an hour, it was removed
from the fire, the cinders skimmed out, and the water
allowed to settle, which it did very quickly.
It was then decanted off into an ordinary prospector’s
pan, and some used to make tea (the flavour of which
can be better imagined than described); the remainder
was allowed to stand all night, a few pieces of charcoal
being added. In the morning it was bright, clear,
and absolutely sweet. This experience is worth
knowing as many a bad attack of typhoid and other
fevers would be averted if practical precautions of
this kind were only used.

TO OBTAIN WATER FROM ROOTS

The greatest necessity of animal life is water.
There are, however, vast areas of the earth’s
surface where this most precious element is lamentably
lacking, and such, unfortunately, is the case in many
rich auriferous districts.